Las Iguanas

Last Thursday after a couple of weeks spent apart me and my best friend Abi met up for a well needed catch up. Wanting a change from the melancholy and overused restaurants near us we decided to head into London. Pizza and pasta was off the menu having consumed way too much Italian food lately and we didn't want to stray too far into London, so what better than to visit both of our favourite place- Spitalfields market. Heading in for the evening the market is not as busy with its usual abundance of crammed stalls but you will sure have a fiesta when you walk into Las Iguanas were we decided to eat. We've been together before but both forgot how scrumptious the food actually is and if you've got a craving for Happy Hour too this should definitely be your first point of call, even if you're the designated driver like me the non-alcholholic raspberry cooler should not go a miss.

 

Deciding we were going to be plotted here for the whole night as we had plenty of gossip to share we both opted for the Pato Taquito (duck with caramelised onions in a tortilla wrap with a cranberry salsa) delicious! However, if you're not a great lover of the mouth tingling spices like I am a glass of water on the side would be a good option. For my main course I delved into the vegetarian chimichanga with butternut squash, spinach, soft white cheese and chickpeas. Now I've never been one to pick the veggie meal, I'm sorry but I have far too many cravings for succulent meat, but animals aside this chimichanga couldn't had been anymore amazing. The tortilla parcel laid like a castle on top of a hill of rice, surrounded by a lake of refried beans, I truly did feel like the King of the castle with this massive portion.

 

The night was definitely one of exciting flavours, cheeky cocktails and Latin American style with the best company.

 

So if you're looking for a night out whether it be a quick light bite after work or languid cocktails and an abundance of food, Las Iguanas is definitely the place to be if you're tired of miserable London and wish you were dancing the night away under the Latin American stars.

 

 

 

Frogz Natural Frozen Yoghurt

One thing I have definitely missed whilst being ill is endlessly wondering around Brick Lane searching through mounds of vintage rails to find that hidden treasure and stopping off at the bagel bakery for the ultimate smoked salmon and cream cheese bagel which is always a must. The last time I visited Brick Lane I think me and my sister took this searching way too far and instead of searching through clothes our noses were are leaders and we hunted down every exquisite cuisine in sight. From Malaysian pancakes to dumplings we couldn't stop ourselves from the abundance of food styles.

 A stone heavier we left the Sunday food market and rolled down Hanbury St. when all of a sudden I spotted Frogz Natural Frozen Yoghurt store. The weather being freezing we decided not to stop but I couldn't help myself being mesmerised by the unique duck egg blue store front which laid in between a very dismal street. A cartoon frog with a beaming smile and a fantastical pastel coloured mural swirled on the inside walls with milk bottle lanterns hanging from the ceiling you couldn't be helped but be pulled inside for a taste of that fat-free delicious yoghurt, sadly though my Dad was pulling me the other way and all I managed to get was a photo of the store's glorious style not a bite of ice cold creaminess of the yoghurt.

 So in the cold weather I sadly walk away from the brightly coloured store and think of the summer weather when I shall spending endless amounts of time chilling with my friends in this quirky style store, luckily its fat-free and sugar free so I can indulge lots.

 

 

HIgh heeled Sandals

Searching for the perfect pair of high heeled sandals has actually become a massive mission for me. Ouch that ones got no support. Ouch this one gives me blisters. Ouch I can hardly walk in these. Has anyone else had this fashion pain crisis or is this just me and my strange feet?

 

I see everyone strut around in them as if they're floating on air but the minute I try to walk I look like I'm walking on hot coals (very unattractive to say the lease). I've had this dilemma before on my year 11 prom, I chose style over comfort and about 20 minutes into the night I wanted to chop off my feet and even changed my shoes for the after the party.

 

See I've always been use to heels with a platform and I think this is my downfall. Even though I'm a dancer and have done point work for years you think my feet would be use to pain but put me in a pair of platformless heels and I literally want to cry. I don't know if its the stiletto heel or lack of support because my block heel sandals are perfect.

 

 So has it really come down to this? Am I really just going to have to wear high heeled sandals on sitting down occasions? Wait I've actually found a pair that have a slight platform. Is this my answer to all my problems? And they are only £19.99 I think my day has actually been made and what with all this beautiful sunny weather we are having I can't think of a better time to buy them.

 

 

 

Homemaker magazine

What with such a busy term at University, being introduced to all the new skills required to become a fashion journalist we had to write an article on our own chosen interviewee writen in the style of our choice of magazine. Here's my article on Jane Asher's patisserie chef Josephine Stiles for Homemaker Magazine. I hope you enjoy reading it.

 

 

“There’s so much variety from a total Wipe-out cake to an insect bite decoration, bespoke is definitely taken to a whole new level”

Elizabeth Mitchell steps inside the world of foremost bespoke cake company Jane Asher and speaks to one of its leading patisserie chef’s Josephine Stiles about how cakes are becoming the centre of attention.

25 year old, Josephine Stiles, to homemakers like us is a rising star just waiting to pull the apron strings and go it alone. Being part of the glue that holds Jane Asher together, Josephine’s career sky rocketed, having only been there for less than two years she has already crafted cakes for the likes of Sir Philip Green and The Duchess of York- “she often has strange orders, she even wanted a dog urinating on a champagne bottle” laughs Josephine.

Early Days

Growing up in a family orientated household in Essex with her mother always in the kitchen and weekends were spent baking, Josephine has always been attracted to that sweet smell. “I’ve been cooking for as long as I can remember, in secondary school I did my work experience at London Cake Company but I never really thought about it as a career.” Despite this, Josephine could never stop being drawn back to cooking: “the whisk was always stuck to my hand, not even pliers could tear us apart.” Nonetheless, wanting to please her family and go to University first, it only took six unsettled weeks studying a degree in French and Italian at Reading University and a holiday in France where she was told “you should become a pastry chef, that’s where the money is because they are in such short supply” for her to realise her true career dream. Going back to where her inspiration came from with the likes of Peggy Porchen and Eric Lanlard and realising that they all mentioned or studied at Le Cordon Bleu Josephine thought she should indulge too. “It was an intense course but it had such a fun environment… they taught me to be a perfectionist- a slave to my art.” Her skills and the start of her career went from strength to strength, interning at Little Venice Cake Company, and landing a job there until being offered a job at Britain’s leading cake company Jane Asher.

On the up

Josephine’s eclectic skills and decorative eye certainly did not go unnoticed, in just eight months working there she was given the honour to be on the cake decorating team of two for Topshop tycoon Sir Philip Green’s 60^th Birthday extravaganza last March. “It was a lot of responsibility and quite high stress but it was such an honour…Sir Philip Green’s cake was very regal with its ivory icing laced with olive green vine leaves and his royal crest, it was very prestigious. While his daughter Chloe’s 21^st birthday cake was a three-tiered masterpiece displaying her shoe range for Topshop with her mint green logo at the top, I must say the wedges and heels did look very realistic.” Robbie Williams must have thought so too when he ran off with one. Despite the trip appearing to be oh so luxurious when they were privately flown to the Rosewood Mayakoba Resort in Mexico, it went downhill quickly when the ingredients to decorate the cake with were held at customs. “Everything was so unorganized, we didn’t know where we would be working, we didn’t have half of the stuff we needed, and we eventually had to raid the hotels icing supply. I felt like some kind of criminal.” After such a manic time: “the best part was once the last cake was out we got to enjoy the party with Chris Brown and Cee Lo Green performing and I even bumped into Michael Buble, that was definitely a weak at the knees moment”- if we didn’t envy Josephine enough before we sure do now. “Kate Moss was misbehaving everywhere she went causing rows with Gwyneth Paltrow, she was definitely a wild one. Naomi Campbell was surprisingly tamed though but I won’t name drop who was raiding the minibars dry” laughs Josephine.

Celebrity Clients

With the company being the foremost in Britain for bespoke cakes and the figurehead being the ‘Queen of cakes’ you would expect to see a client list that is heaving with influential people. “I’ve made cakes for a variety of people from Take That to The Prime Minister, the variety is extraordinary.” Josephine tells us that Naomi Campbell was particularly tamed but her cake designs tell us differently: “for Valentine’s Day last year she had a heart with a model of her futuristic house in Germany put on top.” Despite the high-brow clientele “I personally try to do all my cakes to the best standard whoever the client is but I would love Rylan Gosling to eat my cake and it would be extra special for him.” We are with her on that, who wouldn’t want him? With cake or without.

Onwards and Upwards

This July marks Josephine’s two years at Jane Asher, but as her skill set flourishes she is eager to go it alone.  “I only knew the basics when I started working here, at my interview I didn’t even know how to make 3D models now I do a lot of 3D shoes especially Louboutins.”  Needless to say whatever cake design it is it looks like fun is the key ingredient: “there’s just so much variety from a total Wipe-out cake to an insect bite decoration, bespoke is definitely taken to a whole new level” laughs Josephine.

Nonetheless, the kitchen doors cannot restrain Josephine any longer:  “I want my own bespoke company, and to do a bit of teaching- mother and daughter workshops- just have a bit of fun with cake decorating, like I did with my Mum.” Here at Homemaker we are sure that Josephine won’t be behind the doors for much longer, she is definitely aspiring to be something much bigger and what’s not to stop her with talent like that. Even despite all the glamour of all these clients, Josephine remains true to herself, even if she is making outlandish and ridiculous cakes for instance The Duchess of York’s asking for members of the Royal family to be made into ludicrous positions.  One thing us homemakers are happy about is thank god nobody tried to get that whisk out of Josephine’s hand with pliers.

 

The Future Vintage

Here is some of my articles I wrote for The Future Vintage I hope you like them. Also you can check out the full magazine here: TFV

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finally a glimpse of Summer

After months of being ill, bed ridden to the point of no return and a dressing gown that was worn far too often that I could be mistaken for a ball of candyfloss but take away the sweetness because I was very bitter I am finally starting to feel slightly human. Make up has returned to my face and everyday clothes have returned instead of my combination of jogging bottoms and over-sized hoodies. To make me feel even better the sun has finally come out. We have moved out of the drudge of the winter that over stayed its welcome, just like I have moved out of the dreary hell of glandular fever. This will sound cheesy but as The Only Way is Essex say "the only way is up" and I feel that it definitely is, all we need now is for the sun to stay.

As the sun sat high in the sky shinning glamorously over Britain that needed a well needed pick me up I was only going to Matalan and The Range with my Mum but I thought why not get dressed up. It is true your clothes really do reflect your mood because whilst I've been ill all I've been wearing is black, black, more black and oh your slight tone of grey but now I'm bursting at the seems with colour and style. Thank god I'm finally back and I can say goodbye to the moody woman in black that I have been for a very long time. I say this but when I went out with my Mum I did wear some black but I wasn't drenched in it (baby steps people) I'll phase it out soon enough, needless to say I did buy a bright orange skirt so we can make a rainbow out of me yet. I have to say though the best thing that I was wearing was actually in fact the dark colour itself and it was my River Island heeled sandals. Finally the weather is the right temperature for open toed shoes, no more hiding in the box, no more slipper socks on my feet because these buckled beauties at last got an outing and I must say I did feel slightly glamorous when I was strolling around the bed linen in Matalan.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Top- Primark  | Trousers- H&M | Belt- Primark | Sandals- River Island | Bag-Zara | Bracelet- Turkey | Sunglasses- H&M

 

 

Up and coming designer- Divya Thompson

 

“I haven’t slept properly in 36 hours” is definitely the sound of a determined fashion designer. This 23 year old- Divya Thompson is far from your typical student who is glued to Facebook, with pizza congealed beside them and Jeremy Kyle heckling in the background. Instead Thompson has already done internships at Erdem and Minna and a fashion course at City College Coventry. No wonder she is tired.

Thompson’s talent for womenswear emerged when she assisted the designing of her fifth birthday dress. Her desire to design pushed her to move from the Lake District and attend UCA in order to make fashion into something she wanted it to be.

In a commercialised and trend fixated industry, Thompson derives away from this: “I don’t like to go along with something just because it’s the thing of the moment; it has to have some story behind it- that to me is more stimulating.” She wants fashion to be “timeless instead of that throw away fashion culture…it needs to have more of a conscience.”

Finding most of her inspiration from her love of art and strong persona’s, Thompson became inspired by the “pain and passion” of Mexican artist Frida Kahlo who was held together by the strength within her after her movability was impeded after a tragic accident. Thompson’s textile based graduate collection embraces the ‘lavish indigenous dress’ of this pain-stained artist and touches upon the sentiments of Kahlo’s biographical paintings and her diary is to be made into a print; “the way I work is about creating a story and I want to celebrate Kahlo’s female strength.”  Later stating: “the media tend to show women in a negative light when they should be positive to young women.” So what’s next for Thompson- creating a brand and a story for the young women of today on only a couple hours of sleep?